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The story
DeNA manager Ryoji Aikawa suffered a 4-game sweep loss to SoftBank in the Japan Series, and when asked about the cause of the defeat, said, “This result isn’t a difference in the players’ ability — it’s the gap between Kobukuro-san and me.” Despite leading the team to the Japan Series in his very first year as manager after finishing 3rd in the Central League, discussion threads were split — some questioned his in-game management, others debated whether a real talent gap even existed — with heated back-and-forth over the intentional walk against Kurihara, Reynolds being overworked on the mound, and Inoue’s defense.
DeNA Manager Aikawa Apologizes After 4-Game Sweep: “The Gap Between Kobukuro-san and Me” — Reached the Japan Series in Year One, But Challenges Remain
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Please reflect on it.
Sounds like a shallow line he figured would cover him.
Matsumoto → gets a pass
Reynolds: "This is wrong… this can't be forgiven…"
Winning is all that matters.
Reynolds got worked to death from the end of the regular season through the Climax Series and the Japan Series, so I can't bring myself to criticize him…
A guy who can't catch a routine fly ball to right wouldn't even make SoftBank's bench.
SoftBank made a few mistakes too, so that's not really it.
Does he not know baseball?
Defense especially had a clear gap.
How many times did we see a 'Baseball' moment (a viral blooper-reel meme for comically sloppy defense) in this series?
But even after Dowa made that play, SoftBank's cleanup hitters still couldn't turn it into a run — so their offense was pretty sloppy too.
After all, the players are the ones who feel the talent gap most keenly.
I thought they'd given up on the game.
Their payroll is 8 billion yen.
Of course there's an overwhelming gap.
I don't think the result would change even if they played again.
The quality of the players is clearly different.
Even with their heart of the order — Kondo, Kurihara, Yanagita — all ice cold, they still got swept.
Once the lead flipped on them, the bats tensed right up too.
He's done the same kind of thing before — Inoue just isn't someone you can trust on defense.
Even if they'd pitched to Kurihara there and given up a homer, that still would've been better.
Even Tick (the broadcast commentator) was surprised
A homer there would've only tied the game, so pitching to Kurihara would've been fine.
The Pacific League does it too, normally — even the so-called "toilet" (a derogatory nickname, unclear who/what it refers to) does it.
They have some, but no one to take over for them.
I mean veterans with a lot of postseason experience.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Manager Aikawa is in his first year at the helm, having led the team from a 3rd-place finish in the Central League all the way to the Japan Series. Their opponent, SoftBank, ran away with the Pacific League pennant, and their skipper, Hiroki Kobukuro, built an extensive track record as a player — including with the Japan national team — and has more managerial experience than Aikawa. The thread was split on how to read his comment that “it’s not a difference in the players’ ability”: some saw it as humble self-blame, while others saw it as a face-saving line disconnected from what was actually happening on the field. Many pointed to specific moments — defense and in-game calls like the intentional walk to Kurihara — as evidence that a real talent gap existed. Others countered that most games were close and argued results alone shouldn’t be used to measure the gap across a whole season.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyou G) thread “DeNA Manager Aikawa: “This result (the 4-game sweep) isn’t a difference in player talent. It’s the gap between Kobukuro-san and me.”“
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